Pickelball, an exercise in disguise

When Joel Pritchard, Congressman from Washington state and Bill Bell, a businessman, found a summer family gathering event rather boring, they invented the silly-named game. Since the property had a badminton court, the two decided to play but couldn’t find the equipment so improvised by using wooded paddles and a perforated plastic ball.

The men established rules, relying closely to the game of badminton and created a game that could be enjoyed by the family. As they continued to play, their Cocker Spaniel, Pickles kept interrupting by running off with the ball. Hence the name Pickleball since it was “Pickles’ ball.”

This crazy-named, badminton-like game flourishes in Sun City Hilton Head with an official Sun City Pickleball Club which involves more than 700 members. The members meet and play in the summer from July to the end of September on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6-9 p.m. depending on skill level.

Sun City was introduced to Pickleball in 2005 by Darlene and John Prest and by November of 2005 there were 50 members and it grew from there. In December 2010, there were 792 members.

Robert Sawyer, vice president of the Sun City Pickleball Club, began his Pickleball days in the summer of 2009 when he first moved to Sun City. Since his wife was still in Ohio, Sawyer said he had a lot of time on his hands. Sawyer’s neighbor invited him to play a game of Pickleball at the courts about half a mile from his house. Within the first five minutes of playing, Sawyer was hooked and joined the Pickleball Club just in time to participate in the fall league. Since 2009, Sawyer has played this active, yet fun sport at least three times a week.

“I like to call it exercise in disguise,” Sawyer said. “I’ve cut 20 pounds since moving here and it’s all thanks to Pickleball. You’re moving side-to-side, back and forth, working on hand-eye coordination then two hours go by and you don’t realize the workout you’ve just done because you were having so much fun.”

The Sun City Pickleball Club holds two meetings every year. While the club has close to 800 members, only around 200 are active Pickleball players who participate in playing two to three times a week. The club offers different leagues to play in which include a four-ladder and a seven-ladder. If you’re in the four-ladder you play four games that day and seven games if you’re in the seven-ladder. There are women’s and coed divisions for each ladder and as the club gets more active there could be an all-men’s division in the future.

“I tried tennis but didn’t care for it so I tried Pickleball,” club member Jan Hawks said. “It is very addicting and I love it. I play about three or four times a week for two hours. It is a great exercise.”

For Sun City residents interested in wanting to learn more about Pickleball, the club offers orientation with club member, Barbara Rotach. This orientation is offered three times a month where interested players can learn the rules, instruction, scoring and gives them a chance to to test out whether Pickleball is the game for them.

People interested can also attend the meet and play at the north courts on starting at 6 p.m. Mondays for beginners, Tuesdays for intermediates and Wednesdays for more advanced Pickleball players. At the south courts, the meet and play takes place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

As far as a travel team, the club does not sponsor people to go but gives members information of opportunities to those who are willing to travel at their own expense to Pickleball events. In May, 10 members of the Sun City Pickleball Club participated in the South Carolina Senior Sports Classic held at Francis Marion University in Florence and the group walked away with eight medals.

If looking for a way to stay active and get a great workout in, Pickleball keeps the muscles moving but most importantly keeps players entertained while enjoying the outdoors.

To join Sun City residents in the fun game, check out SCHHPickleballClub.com for more information.